Ada Resident Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse And Sexual Contact Of Two Minors In Indian Country

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced today that Montelito Sanchez Simpkins, age 36, of Ada, Oklahoma was found guilty by a federal jury of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Indian Country, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2243(a), 2246(2)(D), 1151 and 1152 and Abusive Sexual Contact in Indian Country, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2244(a)(3), 2246(3), 1151 and 1152.

The jury trial began with testimony on Tuesday, October 19, 2021, and concluded on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, with the guilty verdicts returned by the jury after approximately 30 minutes of deliberation. Based on the jury’s verdicts, the defendant is facing over 10 years of imprisonment.

The United States presented evidence that on July 15, 2020, Simpkins touched the genitals of a then 12-year-old girl (not through the clothing). During the same incident, he exposed his genitals to the child and told her he wanted to put it in her. She refused at which point he told her when she was 18, she would be his.

A second, similar incident occurred on September 27, 2020. During a sleepover involving two teenage girls, Simpkins approached a second victim in the middle of the night. He rubbed his hand over the 13-year-old girl’s legs, inner thigh, and genital area – through her clothes. The child woke her friend, disclosed what had happened and called a family member to pick her up. Parents of both girls became aware of what had happened and confronted Simpkins. Simpkins ran away from the home in Ada and remained at large for more than two months before law enforcement officials were able to locate and arrest him.

The guilty verdicts were the result of an investigation by the Ada Police Department with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case because the child victims in this case are members of federally-recognized Indian tribes and the crimes occurred in Pontotoc County, within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation Reservation, and within the Eastern District of Oklahoma. This case was also brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

The Honorable David Cleveland Joseph, United States District Judge out of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, temporarily assigned to the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the trial and ordered the completion of a presentence report. Sentencing will be scheduled following the completion of the report. Simpkins was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending the sentencing hearing.

Assistant United States Attorney Edith Singer and Special Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless represented the United States.